Concentric Circles of Creator Classification
Guide on selecting creators for a campaign
Welcome to Creator Campaigns, a deep dive on Paid Partnership into a specific aspect of building a creator marketing campaign.
Now that you understand the tools of creator discovery as outlined in our seminal newsletter published HERE, I wanted to provide a macro framework for how to classify your creator Rolodex when evaluating who to select for your next campaign.
This theory (defined and displayed below) will allow you to more successfully build and activate a group of creators, while supplying a visual reference that’s easily translated in communication across your organization.
Although much of your creator choices will be determined by your overarching business objectives (reach new audiences, max social engagement, conversions, etc.), understanding the broad categories is the first step to mapping a creator to an idea and ultimately a strategic goal.
Behold: The Concentric Circles of Creator Classification
THE DAY ONES
Definition: Creators who already exist within your vertical, creating content about your brand/product/etc. on a regular basis.
How to Activate: For me, each campaign begins with assessing this group who lives as the heartbeat of your community. Even if your main business objective is to reach new audiences, I feel as though serving your core fans through partnering with your nucleus of creators provides a baseline of content (and performance) that serves as the foundation of any campaign.
Because these creators already live within your space, their brand affinity is high by nature which may likely increase the efficiency of the project while decreasing the prep work and ultimately providing a cost-effective method of collaboration.
These creators desire the product/experience/brand connection which only you can supply, a win-win for all parties involved.
Prospective Weight: 30-40% of campaign roster
Examples:
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THE UNICORNS
Definition: Creators passionate about your brand/vertical but exist outside of your community.
How to Activate: In my opinion, this group is the holy grail. Because these creators are already ardent fans of your brand, their excitement to collaborate is high while the content being made remains authentic due to their genuine connection. In addition, you’re able to reach a new audience for your brand while tapping into their own genre - a group often hyped to see their beloved talent exploring their personal passions beyond what the fan base knows and loves them for.
BUT - These creators are often difficult to discover as they may not be actively publishing about their fandom on social. Their daily content about their chosen career (chef, musician, etc.) likely dominates their feed and hides the beautiful fact that they secretly love your brand.
As such, if you are indeed able to identify and connect, hold onto that relationship forever once you establish a rapport because these unicorns are indeed rare.
Prospective Weight: 50-60% of creator campaign roster
Examples:
After discovering that Jake Luhrs, lead singer for metalcore band “August Burns Red,” is a die hard Boston Bruins fan, we hosted him at the 2023 NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park. His beloved Bruins were tied with two minutes left in the third period, until the unthinkable happened creating one of my favorite moments of all time…
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CAPITAL “I” INFLUENCERS
Definition: Mega-sized talent (1M+ followers) who have limited to no connection to your brand but are increasingly popping online.
How to activate: While not inherently negative nor MUST AVOID, I do think this group must be approached with caution. Taking the positive side, partnering with these folks can result in a splashy “how did X brand collaborate with Y influencer” aha! moment for audiences on social which could result in a wealth of engagement and curious sentiment. On the other hand, the collaboration could come off as very forced to new viewers who can cut through a half-baked disclosure to understand the true nature of the ad.
Regardless of the result, this group will likely be more expensive and more challenging to work with if their genuine interest to parter with you is slim to none.
Prospective Weight: 0-5% of creator campaign roster
[Content example redacted - Paid Partnership stays positive]